


The one where it's a swap

by orphan_account



Series: The various complications of magic [6]
Category: Ghost - Mystery Skulls (Music Video), Mystery Skulls (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-02-25 20:03:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2634467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What's done is done and while one has lessened his guilt the others feel misery in its wake. A life for a life indeed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The one where it's a swap

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the first series, Consequences, to understand this fic.

It works. He knows because he watches, as if he's not really there; Lewis' body regenerating at the same time as he feels his grip on reality fade. He watches as Lewis' newly made purple eyes blink awake. Watches as shock takes over and he whispers, "Arthur. What have you done?" It's not until Lewis is pushing at him, pawing at him, that he notices he's not exactly all there.

He's a ghost. His body dead at his feet, face down and smudging the magic circle he worked so hard on.

They hold the funeral even though he insists it's not necessary. They bury him next to Lewis' old body and they all cry even though he's right there, trying to cheer them up with his horrible puns. It doesn't work.

After the funeral Vivi asks him "Why?" A single question drawn from a raw throat. He answers obviously, "Lewis was more important."

Vivi tries to slap him for that but he doesn't exactly know the principles of corporeality yet so it doesn't really work. Lewis doesn't know how to handle the change but takes the second chance for what it is. Mystery just looks at him with sad puppy dog eyes, as if he's betrayed. He knows because Lewis had the same expression when he was falling, falling, falling. Dead.

Arthur tries to get the hang of being a ghost and for the most part he takes it in stride. Looking at it optimistically, at least he can't get hurt right? He still misses eating though but that's neither here nor there.

He can sometimes project himself as he was living, two fleshy arms and his old puffy orange vest but then Vivi starts looking so sad when she sees him like that. The skeletal look isn't that bad he decides. It freaks him out sometimes when he looks in the mirror and sees orange flames and a floating skull but that's the cost. He was prepared for any and all possibilities. (He was prepared to never see them again. He'll take this instead.)

Lewis tries to tutor him in ghostliness and it works sometimes but other times it just doesn't translate. He learns while he can't make a giant purple mansion at will or control Dead Beats he's pretty  _solid_  at phasing through stuff.

(The first time they heard the joke it was a case of too soon and too dumb. Mystery threw one of his chew toys at him that would've hurt if he were alive.)

He's also good at messing with tech, doing the making electronics spark and becoming an invisible levitator. It's fun scaring other people for a change even though everyone gets used to it disappointingly fast. (Except for Mystery, who was never good at the technology thing in the first place. He still has the picture from when he took over the van and started driving it like crazy, locking Mystery inside until the poor pup was green.)

In the end Vivi does not forgive him for his attempts at sacrifice and Lewis... Lewis is grateful but his eyes look so sorrowful when he looks too long at Arthur. Mystery does not say anything about his use of dark magic but scoffs anytime Arthur argues it was the right thing to do. And it was right. Lewis was alive now. He and Vivi could be together again.

(Lewis confronts him one night. Says that he didn't mean to drive Arthur to this conclusion. That he and Vivi would've worked it out on their own. Arthur says it was his own doing, his own choice.

"It was the wrong choice." Lewis says before leaving to go to bed.)

The dynamics change now that Arthur's a ghost, considerably less screaming that's for sure but it's more than that. They can't seem to go by one day without a reminder of their mortality. Of the lengths they'll go to not suffocate under the pressure of their own emotions.

There's screaming fights and quiet whispers, "Why didn't you at least tell us beforehand!?" and "You should have told us." Tears shed. They forgive (not really) and try to forget (they don't, they have nightmares; nightmares of death and possession and unneeded sacrifice). Another advantage of being a ghost is his ability to turn literally invisible. To run away without anyone knowing he's running away.

It breaks them down even further.

What's done is done. Arthur does not really dream and he wonders if it comes with being a ghost. It doesn't matter for he's no longer the haunted but the hauntee. Lewis and Vivi however, do not dream so lightly. They should've known. They should've seen the signs of guilt and stopped Arthur before it happened. He had acted weirdly for weeks, his eyes sagging with dark smudges and his sudden interest in literature uncharacteristic - but they didn't. They didn't notice. And now he was dead.

Arthur didn't remove the burden of guilt; merely transferred it to another host. A life for a life indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank SN_1006 for betaing. That being said all mistakes are solely mine. Also I'm really impatient and the Ghost music video just passed 2,000,000 views so expect all the endings to be uploaded consecutively as a kind of like a reward.
> 
> For what, I don't know.


End file.
